Viñátigo, “Exemplary Winery” of the MIVINO Magazine of the month of February

This February begins by giving us a lot of joy to the entire Bodegas Viñátigo team, since one of the most reputable publications on the national scene dedicated to the world of wine, the magazine MIVINO, has selected Viñátigo as “Bodega Ejemplar” for the month of February .

If for us it is an honor to appear in the pages of the aforementioned publication, we are more satisfied with the excellent report made by the mivino team, which reflects in detail the history and philosophy of our winery, reflecting the effort of nearly three decades recovering our autochthonous varieties and putting value on the new Canarian viticulture.

* We reproduce here the full report and include a link to the original publication.

The value of the Canarian heritage

If each winery that arrives at these pages is, as its title indicates, exemplary, Viñátigo becomes the paradigm of the effort and faith of winemakers and winemakers, their love for the land, for the landscape, for the environment, the history and, in short, the vine and wine, which over generations translates into knowledge.

A story that begins in the Canary Islands in 1402, with the arrival of European settlers who, among their most precious belongings, unloaded vine shoots and saplings. Centuries later, the island’s geography preserved its plantations from the plague that devastated the European vineyard: phylloxera. And while Europe was replanted on a new root-resistant American-in the islands were maintained, until today, the vineyards on foot franc, that is to say, with the proper root of each variety. And that is what has allowed us to preserve so many original varieties – more than 80 – that with the unique character of the volcanic terrain, which provides minerality, and the climate of the archipelago, with the freshness of the Alisios, gives incomparable results in the glass.

Defense conscientiously

Since its inception, the project has championed the defense of the particularities of Canarian viticulture, with the recovery of its varieties, its study and value as the leitmotif of the winery, fighting even against criteria imposed by the Administration itself, such as introduction of foreign varieties that did not contribute anything positive.

The intense work carried out in the recovery of the varietal heritage allows today its catalog to offer 17 wines of 12 varieties that grow in plots located from sea level up to 1,000 m altitude, a whole range of local viticulture and example of enology adapted to the terroirs in the Northwest of Tenerife, under the DO Canary Islands and Ycoden-Daute-Isora.

If the vineyard-the centenary vineyard located in the Cape Verde area in La Guancha-was for many generations of the family an economic complement, it was the passion and training of Juan Jesús Méndez that gave birth to the company in 1990 and seven years then the magnificent building in which it sits, built with great technical knowledge but above all with a waste of ecological and aesthetic care. Architecturally define it as Kilometer 0, and is that a good part of the materials that contrast with steel and exposed concrete come from its soil and surroundings: from the volcanic stone from the excavation to the air that naturally airs the rooms, the trade winds. To grasp and direct them, the orientation of each vent is thought of, such as the windows that trap light without the sun affecting the interior. An interior that enters the earth as if it were the mouth of the volcano and allows to work by gravity, without putting pressure on the wines. Principles of efficiency and environmental mime now widespread but that were revolutionary and even visionary when they began to apply them 20 years ago. But they have never lacked the value, which is now shown in the details: the vintages plot by plot, controlling maturations in each bench, the completely manual collection in boxes of 18 kg, which is cooled to 0 grafod before starting the processes, to avoid oxidations, which allows to make completely natural vinifications without applying sulfites.

The result, in the cup

And this is how their small limited edition and numbered productions were born, grouped into four lines of wines that correspond to their historical evolution: Classics, Varietals, Assemblages and Ancestral.

The Classics, developed in the nineties, represented a first step with the introduction of significant improvements in the production of the Listán Blanco and Listán Negro grapes.

The Varietals form a collection of 9 wines, the result of numerous rescue works of minority varieties: an authentic experience for the knowledge and typification of Canary wine.

The assemblages emerged five years ago after years of work to learn in depth the Canarian varieties. Multivarietal wines, where each grape is elaborated and grown separately, to unite them in different proportions according to the conditions of each vintage.

Ancestral elaborations, although it seems a contradiction, are the most recent. They elaborate with rescued varieties and apply ancestral techniques in disuse: fermented white bred with skins, White Orange, or red macerated with scrap, all in materials recovered in the cellar as concrete tanks and oak vats.